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Service dog ends up in High School Yearbook

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May 25, 2017, 03:06 PM
lkdr1989
Service dog ends up in High School Yearbook
Amid all the chaos of the world, here's something that will make you smile Smile

quote:



Students at Stafford High School in Falmouth, Virginia, were pleasantly surprised when a classmate’s service dog appeared in their yearbook’s pages.

Andrew Schalk, a high school junior with type 1 diabetes, and his dog, Alpha, go everywhere together — including school.

Alpha helps Schalk manage his blood sugar levels.

“Alpha’s job is to alert me to my blood sugar through smell 20 to 40 minutes sooner than I know anything is wrong,” Schalk told the Daily News. “He is a huge help in controlling my blood sugar levels,” he said.

High school senior's yearbook quote goes viral

Alpha has been going to school and attending classes with Schalk for a year and a half now, and is popular among Schalk’s friends.

“Everyone loves him and it has been fantastic,” Schalk said. “Everyone in class and in the hallways knows who he is, and it really brightens everybody’s day.”

This year, Alpha, an integral member of the school’s community, was featured alongside students in the Stafford High School yearbook.

Schalk proposed a portrait of the pup, and said the yearbook’s staff was “100 percent behind it.”


“On yearbook picture day I got my picture taken and scooted over and he got his picture taken,” Schalk said. “He just had on his vest, as always. He was in his standard wear as if out in public.”

Social media users responded to a student’s post of the pup’s portrait.

“Hats off to Stafford High for including a service dog in its yearbook! Way to be inclusive!” Stafford County replied to a picture of the pup’s portrait. “That is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen,” another user said.


The pair are inseparable — for good reason. Schalk said Alpha is responsible for saving his life.


“He has saved my life multiple times by waking me up in the middle of the night and barking. He has been fantastic,” Schalk said.

Schalk looks forward to having his pal with him when he attends college.

“He will be with me whatever step I decide to take after high school and he will be there until he retires.”



http://www.nydailynews.com/new...ok-article-1.3193285




...let him who has no sword sell his robe and buy one. Luke 22:35-36 NAV

"Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves." Matthew 10:16 NASV
May 25, 2017, 03:15 PM
Russ59
Kudos to the school administration and staff for doing the right thing. Why can't they always be so reasonable?


P229
May 25, 2017, 04:09 PM
83v45magna
Thanks for posting that, it made my day. Well and truly LOL'ing. I love the high camera aiming, with the look in the eyes. Still chuckling every time I picture that. Big Grin
May 25, 2017, 04:12 PM
Rey HRH
The eyes on that dog have lots to say with that look.



"It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946.
May 25, 2017, 04:12 PM
tatortodd
Stafford High School is going to the dogs Big Grin

Thanks for posting this story.



Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.
May 25, 2017, 04:20 PM
cruiser68
quote:
Originally posted by Rey HRH:
The eyes on that dog have lots to say with that look.


Yes they do. Glad they included the pic!
May 25, 2017, 07:18 PM
ChicagoSigMan
Love it.
May 25, 2017, 10:14 PM
SR025
How awesome!
May 25, 2017, 10:17 PM
comet24
That's awesome.

My best friend from college has a kid that was born with diabetes. He has a black lab service dog like this one. They are amazing. They will alert before the blood test shows an issue often.


_____________________________________

Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain. Jack Kerouac
May 25, 2017, 10:22 PM
flashguy
I suspect the dogs are able to smell the buildup of ketones in the blood.

flashguy




Texan by choice, not accident of birth
May 25, 2017, 10:22 PM
Rightwire
They ran that story on the local news last night. The photo of the dog is hilarious....




Pronoun: His Royal Highness and benevolent Majesty of all he surveys

343 - Never Forget

Its better to be Pavlov's dog than Schrodinger's cat

There are three types of mistakes; Those you learn from, those you suffer from, and those you don't survive.
May 26, 2017, 08:45 AM
41
That dog has the look of "who me, I didn't do nothin'". Big Grin "I may be a cat chaser but not a cat killer'. Wink


41
May 26, 2017, 09:00 AM
tatortodd
I just clicked on the linked story, the photographer for Alpha's school ID card took a better picture.



Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.
May 26, 2017, 09:32 AM
jhe888
Very cute.




The fish is mute, expressionless. The fish doesn't think because the fish knows everything.
May 26, 2017, 09:33 AM
cmr076
awesome story, the "inclusive" parts a little annoying, otherwise very cool!


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May 26, 2017, 10:11 AM
Skins2881
quote:
Originally posted by cmr076:
awesome story, the "inclusive" parts a little annoying, otherwise very cool!


I was thinking the exact same thing. I hate that word, it usually doesn't mean what it sounds like.

Good boy Alpha.



Jesse

Sic Semper Tyrannis
May 26, 2017, 11:45 AM
nhtagmember
very nice



[B] Against ALL enemies, foreign and DOMESTIC


May 26, 2017, 03:51 PM
OneWheelDrive
Dogs tend to do well on the SATs.


================================================
Ultron: "You're unbearably naive."
Vision: "Well, I was born yesterday."
May 26, 2017, 04:01 PM
snoris
quote:
Originally posted by OneWheelDrive:
Dogs tend to do well on the SATs.


Which in this case stands for SIT ALPHA, TREAT!
May 26, 2017, 08:18 PM
sig229-SAS
What a great story, I'm surprised some PITA administrator didn't say the year book was for kids only.